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Old Portuguese Seaman, by Grace Turnbull, c. 1919. Oil on canvas. 40 x 32 1/16 in. (101.6 x 81.44 cm.) Maryland Historical Society, Accession: A-9.
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Laughing Waters, by Grace Turnbull, c. 1926. Oil on canvas. 25 63/64 x 37 13/64 in. (66 x 94.5 cm.) Maryland Historical Society, Accession: A-49.
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Ship Prows, by Grace Turnbull, 1919? Oil on canvas. 9 29/64 x 13 1/16 in. (24 x 33.2 cm.) Maryland Historical Society, Accession: A-69.
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Medium/Discipline: Painting, Sculpture, Works on Paper
Birthplace: Baltimore, Maryland
Place of Death: Baltimore, Maryland
Maryland Affiliation: Born here, Active while in residence
Prominent Theme: Women; Animals; Religious subjects; Plants
Gender: Female
Race/Ethnicity: White
Biography: Born in Baltimore, Grace Turnbull "stands as a member of the first generation of women to achieve success and recognition in the arts in our country." (James Breckenridge, Grace Turnbull, p.10)
Turnbull's family was composed of scholars and intellectuals. Her father, Lawrence Turnbull, was from the South, and served as editor of "The New Eclectic" magazine and "The Southern Magazine." He published the works of poet Sidney Lanier and other new and established writers. Grace Turnbull"s mother was a historical novelist, her brother, Bayard, a renowned architect, and her sister, Eleanor L. Turnbull, studied Spanish poetry and was a translator and interpreter.
In her early years, Grace Turnbull drew pictures and portraits of her family and friends that she decried as "sugary", but which served as the basis for her interest in seeking formal training at the Maryland Institute College of Art. She enjoyed classes taught by Philadelphia artist Thomas Anschutz, who was trained by, and served as assistant to, Philadelphia artist Thomas Eakins who worked in the realist tradition. Baltimore Museum of Art Curator of American Art James Breckenridge wrote that Turnbull's "direct and uncompromising portraits, gracefully yet naturally composed, share the somber tonalities and penetrating psychology of the Eakins school." (Breckenridge, p. 18) He contends that Turnbull's later study in New York and Philadelphia did not detract from the aesthetic influence of the Eakins school in her work. Her portraits were done in pastels rather than oil paints, and she did her portraits to scale.
In 1902, Turnbull traveled to Rome and there studied informally with an expatriate American sculptor named Moses Ezekiel, who familiarized her with the sculpture of Rodin. In 1908, back in Baltimore, she depicted the human figure as well as genre scenes, such as street musicians, mariners and working-class mothers. In 1913, she went to Brittany where she continued to paint and was honored by the inclusion of a painting of a mother and child in the 1914 Spring Salon des Beaux-Arts exhibition. She returned to Baltimore in 1914, and worked in Provincetown, Massachusetts, painting but also interested in playing a role in the war. A religious pacifist, during World War I she went to France and Germany where she served as a Red Cross "Searcher" for the missing, wounded and dead in hospitals and camps. She was also interested in studying various languages and cultures while abroad, and was fluent in French, German, Italian, Latin and Greek. Turnbull returned home in 1919 just prior to her father's death. Her artwork after this time became focused not on her fellow man, but on flowers she encountered in travels to Bermuda and the Caribbean, majestic landscapes such as the Grand Canyon and abstract studies of form and color. Her shift in subject matter and style, now conveyed through bold forms and strong color, has been attributed to the difficult emotional stress of the recent events of her life.
Largely self-taught as a sculptor but using her understanding of form and space from her earlier artwork, Grace Turnbull turned to sculpture in a focused way in 1928, when her brother designed a large home for her in Baltimore with a studio capable of accommodating her creation of carved-stone sculptures. Her first drafts in her carving were done in plaster to her approval before she embarked on carving the piece of stone. Her subjects were the human figure, animals and Christian subjects, and she worked in the materials of plaster, terra cotta, bronze and marble. Breckenridge wrote, "In all her best sculpture, there is this tension between the sense of the material, and the form of the subject." (Breckenridge, p. 18) She reached full artistic development during the 1930s, and continued her work in sculpture throughout her life.
Turnbull, a humanitarian, donated to many Maryland charities, provided support to young artists and musicians, worked for better race relations and the rehabilitation of prisoners, and opened her home to underprivileged children. She satisfied her scholarly interests by translating the works of Plotinus as well as authoring books such as Tongues of Fire (1929), an anthology of sacred non-Christian writings, Fruit of the Vine (1950), a statement against alcohol abuse and the autobiography Chips from My Chisel (1959).
Education/Training: Maryland Institute College of Art; New York, with Joseph De Camp; Pennsylvania Academy, with Cecilia Beaux and William Merritt Chase
Selected References: Breckenridge, James D., intro. Paintings and Sculpture by Grace H. Turnbull. (Belgium: Malvaux, Brussels), 1959.
Turnbull, Grace. Chips from My Chisel (Rindge, N. H., R. R. Smith), 1953,1959.
Turnbull, Grace. Essence of Plotinus, (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press), 1976, c1934.
Turnbull, Grace. Tongues of Fire: A Bible of Sacred Scriptures of the Pagan World (New York: The Macmillan Company), 1929.
Turnbull, Grace. Fruit of the Vine As Seen By Many Witnesses of All Times (Baltimore), 1950.
Maryland Institutions Holding Artworks: Baltimore Museum of Art (sculpture, painting); Maryland Historical Society
Awards: For Torso, 1930: Anna Hyatt Huntington Prize for sculpture, National Association of Women Artists, 1931; de Forest Honorable Mention; First Prize and Silver Medal, Maryland Institute Alumni Show, 1932.
For Fountain Figure, 1932: First Prize, Women's Achievement Exhibition, Philadelphia, 1932; Honorable Mention, Pam Beach Art Centre, Florida, 1935.
For Lemur, 1942: Anna Hyatt Huntington Prize, National Association of Women Artists, 1944.
For Python of India, 1942: Purchase Prize in "Artists for Victory" Exhibition, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1942.
For Sleeping Calf, 1944: Junior League Prize, Baltimore Museum of Art, 1945.
For Hippopotamus Head, 1945: National Association of Women Artists Prize, 1946.
For Elephant Head, 1946: Junior League Prize, 1947.
For Maryland Conservation Association medallion design: Winning design, Baltimore, 1950.
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